Machine for delinting cotton-seed hulls.



PATENTED MAY 2l, '1907` W.0LIVER.

MACHINETOR DELINTING COTTON SEED HULLS.

, APPLIOATION FILED JAN.1`4. 1907.

10.854.232 ,PATENTBO MAY 21, 1907:

W. OLIVER. MACHINE yPOR OBLINTmO COTTON SEED lHILLS.

APPLIOA'l'ION FILED JAN.14, 1907.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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aid.. @0W Y WILLIAM OLIVER,v OF LOOKPORT, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR DELINTING COTTON-SEED HULLS.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Iiflay 2l, ISU?.

Application filed January 14,1907. Serial No. 352,118.

To all whom, 212'; Ina/y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM OLIVER,` a citizen of the United States, residing at Lockport, in the lcounty of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Delinting Cotton-Seed' Hulls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to machines for delinting cotton seedhulls, that is, for removing and separating from the hulls the lint or short iiber adhering thereto.

It has been found commercially impractical to remove Ithe lint or short fiber from the whole cotton seeds, and in preparing the seeds, for the manufacture of oil thereIrom they are first broken up and the'meat or kernels, from which the -oil Vis expressed, are separated from the hulls preparatory to removing the lint or fiber from the hulls. The hulls constitute a good feed for cattle, but

Y the lint is very injurious' to the cattle and therefore decreases the value ofhthe hulls. rlhe lint or short iiber, on the other hand, is used in the arts, VJfor instance, in the manufacture oi paper and explosives. The lint can be recovered from the hulls by chemical methods but these are expensive both be,- cause of the cost of the chemicals employed and because of the loss ofthe hulls which are destroyed.` Many attempts have therefore 'been made to devise mechanical means'fory removing the lint 'from the hulls but lfew, if

y. any, of these devices-Will completely separate the lint from the hulls, thus still leaving a considerable amount of lint on the hulls.-

I The -liht obtained, on-the other hand, is

broken so short as to reduce its value and contains a large amount of fine bran or powdered hulls. The machines of which l am aware are also so expensive to operate that the cost ofthe products is unduly great.

The object of this invention is to produce a practical and' economical vmachine or apparatus for thoroughly detaching and separating the lint from the-hullsin such a manner that both the hulls and fiber are saved in a merchantable or salable condition. -The machine whereby -this result is accomplished, briefly stated, is organizedy and operates as follows: The hulls with 'the lint adhering thereto are fed in a' cylindrical casing having `a roughened or abrasive inner surface.' Rapidly rotating beaters or stirrers in the cylinder sweep or carry the hulls `aroundthe cyland agitate haust or suction in the exhaust trunk.

inthe several figures.

4separating s ace at its upper portion from 'which ascen s an exhaust trunk or flue leading toa dust collector. Whenthe hulls in their motion around-the cylinder reach the enlargement or separating space at the upper portion of the cylinder, they will be projected into said se arating space and loosened up therein sothat the detached fiber or lint will be separatedfroln the hulls and carried out of the cylinder by the ex- The location and shape of the separating space and its connection'with the exhaust trunk are suchtliat the hulls and meal which are Ino-- mentarily in suspension in the separating space can drop freely back into the rotating mass of material in the casing. The lint is 'separated from the air current by the dust co lector and the delinted hulls pass out of the cylinder through suitable scrccneddischarge openings therein,

In the accom anying drawings, consisting of two sheets: igure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation rating machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is. a transverse sectional elevation thereof in line 2 2, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an end elevation, 4partly in' section, thereof..

Like letters of reference A represents the cylinder or casing andB the rotary beaters or stirrers therein, Thevl casing is stationarily supported in substantially horizontal position by legs a, or other suitable means, and is provided, preferably at one end, with a feed spout a through which the hulls are introduced into the cylin der. Except as hereinafter described,` the cylinder may be of any suitableconstruction. It is shown as made of upper and lower halves bolted or otherwise secured together to facilitate 4manufacture and repairs. The lcasing is substantially cylindrical in shapeexcept for aperipheral enlargement or protuberance at or near its top, forming an interior chamber or separating space C whichprctrudes 't outwardly beyond the circle of the adjacent ortions of the cylindrical-Wall iii'the casing. Ihis separating space-preferably extends the full length of thel caisng and. its peripheral.

wall is preferably eccentric to the remaining in line l-1, Fig. 2, of a separefer to like parts Ico belt.

portion of the cylindrical Wall of the casing, which is concentric with the axis of the rotary beater, and merges at its lower end into said concentric ortion of the Wall. The cylindrical wall of thecasing is lined with the usual coarse woven wire fabric D or is otherwise suitably .roughened interiorly to produce the 'necessary abrasion on the material. Discharge o eningslE for the hulls from which the lint ias been detached, having suitable doors or closures e, are irovided, preferably in the lower portion of t e cylindrical wall of the casing. The woven wire lining forms screens over these o enin s which allow only the escape of the de inte hulls.

vThe beater may be of any suitable construction adapted to rub the hulls over the inner surface of the casing to detach the lint without unuecessaril breaking up or pulverizing the hulls. The beater shown consists of blades secured to a shaft f from which theyl project radiall r. The beater shaft is journaled in bearings in the ends of the casing and is provided with a pulley f for a drive G represents an exhaust trunk or 'iiue which leads upwardly from' the upper portion of the casing and communicates with the 1 enlargement or separatingspace C thereof.

Preferably the trunk extends from end to end of the 'casing but is relatively narrow transversely of the casing. The opposite side walls of the trunk join the ends of the concentric and eccentric portions respectivel of the cylindrical wall of the casing, an at least the lower end ofthe trunk which connects with the casing should be vertical so thus expands or opens up,

that no surface or shelf is formed on which the material can lodge in the operationof the machine. not shown, is connected with the exhaust trunk for creatiner a suction or upward draft therein to draw the lint up out of the casing and the trunk leads to a dust collector of any suitable sort (not shown) for separating the lint yfrom the air current. l

The operation of the machine is believed to be as follows: The hulls with the lint or short liber adhering thereto are fed into the casing and are carried around therein in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fi 2, by the rapidly rotating beaters or bladesgB, and the lint is detached from the hulls by the attrition or abrasion of the hulls u on each other and upon the rough surface o the casing. When the material is carried past the upper end of theconcentric portion of the cylindrical Wall into the separating space, it will be freeto move outwardly beyond the cylindrical spec-c in which it is confined by t 1c concentric portions of the casin and 1t will bc thrown outwardly more or less tanM gentially in this sl ace by the beaters and the action ofv centriliiigal force. The material 'as it were, in the trunk, and the the broken hulls withl or without lint ataround in the casing by the beaters.

An exhaust fan or other rneans,

be leliminated from the separating space in the immediate vicinity of the exhaust trunk, and is also agitated so that the particles are caused to change position by reason of their rebounding from the eccentric ortion of the Wall of the casing against w ich they are thrown, thereby liberating the detached lint from the hulls with which it is mixed so that it is carried off by the suction in the exhaust trunk. The suction is so regulated that it will only lift the lint and the small amount of ver f fine dust, which .is as light `as lint, into -t e exhaust heavier material consisting of tached thereto will fall back under the action of gravity into the rotatingmass of material in the casing and will e again carried exhaust ytrunk leads vertically from the sepa rating s ace, no surface or ledge is formed on Which t e material .c an lodge and collect, and particles of hull light enough to be held by the suction on such a ledge, if one were resent, will fall back into the main art o the casing. lThe delinted hulls gradball find their exit from the casing throug the screened dischar e openings E, but the detached lint, and ulls with lint attached do not escape through these openin swhlich is believed to be due to the size o the screen openings and the combined action of the inward draft through these openings and eentrifugal force which tends to kee the heavier hulls outermost. As the partie es of the material are repeatedly thrown out into separating space where readily act upon them, as explained, the detached lint is more'v quickly separated from the hulls, the separation thus being effected before the action is continued solong as to grind the hulls and lint into there will be less dust light enou h to becarried olf with the lint. The sma ercentage of dust carried 0H by the air with t e lint can lint chemically at a small expense. It is possible vwith the machine described to produce a better grade of fiber, that is, longer and cleaner fiber, and at thesame time to remove a very much larger ercentage of the lint from the hulls and eave the hulls in better'condition than can beeffected in any of the machines of which I. am awareat present employed for the pur pose. e I claim as my invention: l

1. |The combination of asubstantially horine particles.- -Cleanerlint of longer fiber is thus insured as AS-the i the suction can more lof zontal casing which is partially cylindrical in shape but is provided with an enlargement pr separatingspace at its upper'portion having unobstructed communication wit interior of the main part of the casing, means for rubbing the' material against. theA cylindrical wall of said easing, and a suction trunk h the.

leading from said separating space of the cas'i4 .1,

i ing and havingga substantially-upright con- 'ncction With said casing whereby no surfacev formed un on which the material can lodge, substantially as set forth.` 4

2. The combination of asubstantially horizontal casing which is substantially cylin-v dricalin `shape 'but is provided with an en- Y largement orseparating space at-its upper y portion having unobstructed communication 'n with the interior'of the main'part of the cas-4 ing, a rotary beater in said casing, and asuetion trunk leading from said separa-ting space of the casing and having a substantially upright connection with said casing vwhereby no surface is formed upon which the material can lodge, Asuhstantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a substantially hori- `zontal casing which is substantially cylindrical in shape, the cylindrical Wall of said casing having a concentric portion andan eccentric portion forming a separating space at the upper portion of the casing, means'for rubbing the material against the cylindrical wall of said casing, and a suction trunk ,ascending from said separating space, substan-t tially as set forth.

' the cylindrical -Wall 1 o.

heater in said casing,

ascending from lsaid seplsltrating space, substantially as set forth.

, 5L The. coihinatin of a substantially hori- `zontalcasing which 'is substantially cylindrical in shape,` a rotar beater in said casing, said, casing having a portion lcoi'icentrlc with theaxis ,et said eaterand anfecdlentric. portion forming a' separating space at the upper portion of the casing, and -asuction trun having opposite substantially upright Wallsl joining. the adjacent" ends or' said concentric and eccentric Walll portions of the casing, snhstantiallyas set/forth. i

6. The'cornbination' of a substantially hori.- 'zontal casing` which is 'substantially cylin drical in shape,l the cylindrical. wall of said vcasing having a' concentric portionand an eccentric portion forming a separating s ace at the upper portion of the discharge openings in its lower portion, a lperforated lining said casing crossing said discharge openings,

Aa rotarydevicefor rubbing the inateriai against said lining, and a suction trunk ascending from said separating space, suhstaw tially as set forth. 4

` N Vitness my hand, this 10th' day of J anuary, 1907.

. WILLIAM OLIVER. Witnesses:

MARK J. TovnLL, HENRY OLIVER.

casing and laving for the cylindrical Wall of 

